Entwined Destinies
by lovelytunes
Summary: An alternate story plot to the actual ending...Jules and Ashton are now hoping the best for their future...
1. Chapter 1

As the sun slowly set over the palace of Castlebury, casting hues of golden yellow and orange in the sky, Jules and Ashton retreated by themselves to one of the upper floor balconies to spend some quiet time together.

"I can't believe Christmas is almost over so soon...It's like a flash!" Jules smiled a little wistful as Ashton held her close to rest on his shoulder. The brilliant view before them raised the sentimental mood shared between them during such a moment of privacy.

"Though we could not stop time from running, I've found myself much happier than last year's Christmas...I found you...and you too...We have endless possibilities to look forward to...Don't you feel the same?" He wrapped his arms around her waist, turning to face her with a tender smile.

When her eyes met his gaze at just a hair breadth's apart, she could not help blushing pink and giggled. "I...don't know...If we could have a choice, I'd rather replay everything that happened this Christmas...because..."

"Because...?"

She bashfully looked away and pointed towards the sun in the far off distance, "Because winter sunsets are amazingly beautiful!"

He chuckled at her innocence and took out a cellphone from his pocket to take a snapshot of her against the scenic backdrop.

"That was quick of you!" She smiled with pleasure and grabbed her turn at snapping a few pictures of him and them together.

As he hugged her close again, Jules felt it was time for her ask the question which repeated in her thoughts lately. Fingering his coat button, she avoided looking into his eyes and lowered her gaze as she said, "Ashton, I honestly don't know for how long I will be able to stay here with you...I don't come from here...and it seems like a suddenly when things changed so much and too fast...for me..."

Just feeling her tone, he could sense her well-kept insecurity. It was true of this which she had confessed to him and he could not deny the reality behind it, though recent events felt completely like a fairytale. He knew it was time to get a bit of her perspective, the point of view of a commoner who chanced upon meeting a noble like him.

He held her hands again and kissed those slender fingers of hers, "I understand, Jules...We can't control destiny...but I won't let you go through it alone...because you are a part of me...and us..."

She has never heard a more soothing voice coming from him, something much more gentle than before. Lifting her gaze to lock with the certainty of his, she seemed to see a lesser known different side of him. It was princely, yet no longer detached but sweetly endearing.


	2. Chapter 2

The next dawn of the third day of Christmas, Ashton woke up early in bed. For some reason, the first thing that came to his mind after rising from his sleep was the recall of every word spoken by Jules back in the day before when they were by themselves at the balcony. He mused and smiled, even entertaining the thought of naming that spot the 'Sunset' balcony. The scenery has never been more touching and pretty not until Jules arrived and stayed in this castle. She brought with her the bright rays of sunshine in life...

He figured that all this reverie would be fruitless without him taking some action in his love for her...Pulling away the pure cotton covers, he sat up and reached for the bedside wooden drawer, taking out a handy sketchbook and dark lead pencil...

Art was most useful and romantic when it came to expressing heartfelt imaginations and hope for their future. Until now, he still has no clear sense of direction which the two of them were about to take as their next step, despite the overflow of affections. She changed him, and for who knew when it all began to happen deep inside this young man, in the matter of a fraction in time. He has lived here isolated and inside this castle all his life, but she brought to him all the delight and 'invisible' treasures of a free life from the world outside...There was always this sense of leaping warmth within his chest each time he indulged in filling the template of his mind with her smiles and expressions...

As he ponder more, his fingers and hand over the sheet of thick drawing paper began working, remembering how one of a gown meant for her to wear was accidentally burnt before Christmas. He was all set to create a meticulous and detailed sketch of a dream gown tailored for Jules...

In spite of this day being a weekend, a special courier mail delivery all the way from the United States was received by the castle senior butler. It was addressed to Maddie...


	3. Chapter 3

"Jules! Jules! You can't believe this! This is simply heaven!" Maddie leapt and climbed onto Jules' bed pulling away her covers and patting repeatedly her sleepy face awake.

Jules yawned and rubbed her eyes dreamily, causing Maddie to be more impatient with her young aunt. The little girl then grumbled and jumped off the bed again, charging towards the windows to draw all the curtains to let in the sunshine so Jules could be more alert and conscious.

Grabbing the pillow and hugging it tight, Jules still appeared too lazy to arise...Maddie was disappointed and quickly went back to the bedside to shake Jules by her shoulders.

"Jules! Can't you hear me?! I just got my loveletter answered! And I want to go back to meet with my crush once again!" Maddie shouted deafeningly into Jules' ears, which instantenously revived her mind till she sat upright on bed, eyes opened wide and staring straight at her indignant niece.

"You must be kidding me!" Jules cried in half confusion and disbelief. She then took notice of a piece of perfume scented loveletter which Maddie was now holding in her hands and gradually the morning lightheadedness left and her mind cleared.

Maddie crossed her arms and Jules bit her lip. The little girl then questioned, "Shall I have to plead with you to return to the States? I have been missing Andrew very much ever since coming here..." Her expression was quite crestfallen as she sat down beside Jules on the bed.

Jules sighed and rubbed her temples again, "Oh my...Maddie...Just why at a time like this? You never told me you had a crush!"

Maddie held up the letter before her aunt's eyes and stressed, "Correction...I 'have been having' a crush...I never expected he would respond to me...He's popular, smart, and rich...I thought that I was a definite-no-match for him...So how am I suppose to tell all of you?!"

Jules grimaced, "So you shouldn't have written him that letter in the first place! We're commoners...not rich, smart, and popular..."

It was Maddie's turn to sigh in exasperation. She held tight Jules' both arms again, "Oh my dearest and most beloved Auntie Jules...This is my dream come true...the first ray of spring! You're not gonna leave me in a state like this, are you?"

Jules laid back down onto bed, pulling Maddie with her, "Oh, it's not that...And it's not even spring yet...What I mean is, you really have total confidence in that...little...An-drew...?"

A brief silence between them and Maddie nodded quietly against Jules' chest.

Jules stroked her niece's smooth bangs, and then whispered, "Oh,...then I'll see what I can do..."


	4. Chapter 4

Dragging up their cabin luggage to seat themselves comfortably in the airport departure lounge, Jules, Maddie and Milo were finally about to board a plane back to the States. The three were quiet for some moment, still reeling over a decision made about a week ago, which all began from an unexpected mail addressed to Maddie. She still has it kept nice and safe inside her knapsack, not feeling it was the right time to pull it out to have another long read...All the heavy sense of guilt she has been harbouring for causing such a drastic shift in their priorities were too much to broken into words. She stole a few glances at the person closest to her in the whole world and just the thought of wreaking havoc to her romantic relationship all for the sake of giving her own a chance created nasty butterflies in her stomach..

Jules appeared to be staring absent-mindedly into space, oblivious of the crowds of people rushing in opposite directions before her face...Nevertheless, she was not actually that indifferent but was mentally weighing all the steps she took over the past week to get the three of them to where they were right now. She was determined to not let Maddie and Milo feel bad for her because in truth, they were not the only reason which landed themselves in this airport departure gate today...Who else was to blame? The answer was easy to guess...

That early morning when Jules and Maddie had their first round of talk after receiving her secret admirer's letter, they were actually not at all serious about making a real plan to head back to the States...Who would know, the turning point came when Ashton had literally disappeared since the two stepped out of Jules' bedroom to show up for breakfast with everyone else...From then on, they were told that he just had to be at a very urgent and important function for the top nobility class in England and no one would know for certain when he would be back at Castlebury. Later that same first day, Maddie and Milo's grandfather too left to join him. The 'castle' was like their playhouse ever since, even though Jules were deeply expecting Ashton to return as soon as he could. No phonecall, no mail and neither any electronic means of communication took place between the two lovebirds...Very soon, Jules was more than lovesick - she was beginning to feel indignant towards Ashton...Milo even saw Jules shedding priceless tears when she was out alone in the balcony, ironically that very same spot where Ashton had made his golden promise to her...

Days turned into a week, with Jules only able to pass on messages to him through their senior butler, yet Ashton did not offer any response...When Duke Edward finally returned past midnight the night before, he simply said he was too tired to handle any question from the three of them. Without any hint of objection, he agreed to Jules taking Maddie and Milo on a flight back to the States the next day's evening...Presumably, he might be thinking for the sake of a brief vacation...

Now having thought of all these sequences which led them to this airport, Jules was tempted to slip out her purse and sneak a peek at the picture she took with Ashton over at that 'Sunset' balcony...Just as she was about to give in to the longing, a passer-by dropped his big-sized cup of Starbucks latte, splattering the drink all over the floor...and even onto part of Jules' costly powder-pink boots...


	5. Chapter 5

"I'm so sorry...Miss...Daly?"

It would take the whole world's coffee to alert Jules out of her thoughts, so what has just a little bit of splattering got to bother her solitude of deep heartaches? She remained lost in her own world of endless rain, yet the surprised passer-by hurried over to her side and apologised with concerned eyes again.

"Jules!" Maddie and Milo came up close and shook her back into reality, with some success.

The person got down to her eye level before the three of them and greeted with a friendly smile, "Hi, very unexpected to see you all here...But weren't you supposed to be at Castlebury? It's almost new year, what brought you and the kids here, Miss Daly?"

Jules was rather slow in responding to his questions, "Oh, you are...?"

He smiled warmly again, "Josh...Ashton briefly introduced me to all of you during Christmas back in Castlebury some time ago. It's logical that you won't recognise me as a new acquaintance..So is this arranged and planned beforehand, I mean you all coming to this departure hall, to meet Ashton? Funny thing he was mentioning about collecting your New Year's gift by tonight...?" As he tried to make sense of the confusion surrounding them, he got even more puzzled about their chance meeting.

Maddie's eyes rolled in surprise over what the gentleman Josh had just told and excitedly grabbed his hands pleading, "Can you say that again? Uncle Ashton is in this place right now, tell us how true is that?!"

He was quite taken aback by Maddie's reaction, "We just arrived here less than three hours ago from Glasgow after attending a week-long function and meeting with the high-rank nobility there due to some circumstances...But Ashton insisted that he has to get something important for Miss Daly and other stuff, otherwise we would have been on our way back to Castlebury by now...It seems like we are a surprise for you guys, why is that? Aren't you all heading to Paris with us as well?"

Maddie and Milo gasped at the same time, "Paris?!"

Jules felt like the world was spinning before her eyes as she got more confused, "Ashton...is he really with you now?"

A quickening footsteps in the background...Jules looked beyond them to a little far corner in the frenzied departure lounge where a familiar someone sharply caught her gaze...There, stood Ashton as their eyes met, answering to her cries and longing for a man of all her heartfelt wishes all these years...


	6. Chapter 6

"It's indeed Uncle Ashton!" Maddie squealed while Milo yelled at the highest pitch of their voices as Jules remained standing as frozen as ever less than half-a-metre apart from her most beloved.

Josh was quick-witted to head over and hush the two children, leading them to the side as it seemed that the pair of grown-ups very much needed a time by themselves.

Jules struggled to fight back tears upon receiving Ashton's yearning gaze and he took brisk pace to close their distance. She almost hesitated to turn away had it not been Ashton already reaching her side and holding her despite his hands full of a bag and briefcase.

Her heart being overwhelmed and heavy from the disappointments and long wait, Jules was unsure of what to say in response to his appearance..."I'm sorry..." He knew the apology was long overdue for putting her through the unfair amount of grief.

She did not want to look straight into his eyes, merely held her head down with a strongly racing heart.

"I know this is too much for you to bear...But, I'm sorry...that an excuse does not mean much now..." He tucked a few strands of her bangs from covering her lashes and kissed her forehead gently.

A pearly tear trickled down her flushed cheek, yet Jules knew she wanted to hug him tight in spite of the onlooking crowds. Ashton was certain he would do anything to make up for the unfortunate setback to their supposed-to-be time together at Castlebury and the promise he longed to give her...


End file.
